SCOTUS Watch

[hepcat]

Harlan Crow is a really bad businessman. He could have had Kavanaugh for a six pack of Bud.

[TheMix]

Harlan Crow is a really bad businessman. He could have had Kavanaugh for a six pack of Bud.

Who's to say that he doesn't have him as well?

[waitingtoconnect]

Harlan Crow is a really bad businessman. He could have had Kavanaugh for a six pack of Bud.

I knew the deep state far right was soft on trans rights!!

[waitingtoconnect]

My 16 yr-old said to me today, "With people like this on the Supreme Court, The Constitution is meaningless."

This is what they want. They will say thanks to the democrats the Supreme Court is broken.

Why would they say ‘thanks to the democrats’?

Is that with the idea that the Democrats have not stacked the courts while they have this small shot here?

They have to blame someone, like the “corrupt” “etc etc” Democrats or they won’t have an excuse to take over.

Like many managed democracies like Russia there will be an opposition but like in Tennessee it will be easily brushed aside through “legitimate” means.

[Unagi]

My 16 yr-old said to me today, "With people like this on the Supreme Court, The Constitution is meaningless."

This is what they want. They will say thanks to the democrats the Supreme Court is broken.

Why would they say ‘thanks to the democrats’?

Is that with the idea that the Democrats have not stacked the courts while they have this small shot here?

They have to blame someone, like the “corrupt” “etc etc” Democrats or they won’t have an excuse to take over.

Like many managed democracies like Russia there will be an opposition but like in Tennessee it will be easily brushed aside through “legitimate” means.

I think we are talking about the same thing but not really.
My child is in no way about to blame the democrats. They feel the GOP is evil incarnate.

The ‘burn it down’ camp (well, one faction at least) has some sympathy for democrats, but no longer has any faith they are in it to win it.

[waitingtoconnect]

My 16 yr-old said to me today, "With people like this on the Supreme Court, The Constitution is meaningless."

This is what they want. They will say thanks to the democrats the Supreme Court is broken.

Why would they say ‘thanks to the democrats’?

Is that with the idea that the Democrats have not stacked the courts while they have this small shot here?

They have to blame someone, like the “corrupt” “etc etc” Democrats or they won’t have an excuse to take over.

Like many managed democracies like Russia there will be an opposition but like in Tennessee it will be easily brushed aside through “legitimate” means.

I think we are talking about the same thing but not really.
My child is in no way about to blame the democrats. They feel the GOP is evil incarnate.

The ‘burn it down’ camp (well, one faction at least) has some sympathy for democrats, but no longer has any faith they are in it to win it.

Sorry for the confusion, by "they" I meant the Republicans not your child. I was suggesting the Republicans will blame the Democrats for their attempted takeover of everything. I think most people will know it was them though, especially the young folk.

Voter apathy by discouraging the belief of the young in major institutions by taking them over or by undermining/underfunding them is one strategy they've tried to use that hasn't' worked so that's why they are switching to voter id, deregistration and looking to push back on voter age from 18 to 21.

[Skinypupy]

Clarence Thomas has for years claimed income from a defunct real estate firm.

Was that wrong? Should I not have done that?

JFC, this guy…

[LawBeefaroni]

Pro Publica version:

The transaction marks the first known instance of money flowing from the Republican megadonor to the Supreme Court justice. The Crow company bought the properties for $133,363 from three co-owners — Thomas, his mother and the family of Thomas’ late brother, according to a state tax document and a deed dated Oct. 15, 2014, filed at the Chatham County courthouse.
.
The purchase put Crow in an unusual position: He now owned the house where the justice’s elderly mother was living. Soon after the sale was completed, contractors began work on tens of thousands of dollars of improvements on the two-bedroom, one-bathroom home, which looks out onto a patch of orange trees. The renovations included a carport, a repaired roof and a new fence and gates, according to city permit records and blueprints.
. .
A federal disclosure law passed after Watergate requires justices and other officials to disclose the details of most real estate sales over $1,000. Thomas never disclosed his sale of the Savannah properties. That appears to be a violation of the law, four ethics law experts told ProPublica.

[Kurth]

Clarence Thomas has for years claimed income from a defunct real estate firm.

Was that wrong? Should I not have done that?

JFC, this guy…

This sounded bad when I read the headline, but if you read the article, it’s not such a big deal. He reported income from a family real estate firm. In 2006, that firm was wrapped up and reformed as a new but similarly named corporate entity. Thomas continued to report income from the firm.

Not a big deal by itself, but it does support the WP takeaway that Thomas doesn’t take his disclosure requirements as seriously as he should. But the headline is clickbait.

[malchior]

CNN

Justice Clarence Thomas intends to amend his financial disclosure forms to reflect a 2014 real estate deal he made with a GOP megadonor – an acknowledgment that the transaction should have been disclosed almost a decade ago, a source close to Thomas tells CNN.

The deal between Thomas and Harlan Crow, a Dallas real estate magnate and long-time friend of Thomas, involves the sale of three Georgia properties, including the home where Thomas’ mother, Leola Williams, 94, currently lives.

The source said Thomas has always filled out his forms with the help of aides, and that it was an oversight not to report the real estate transaction. Thomas believed he didn’t have to disclose because he lost money on the deal, according to the source.

Thomas really has general contempt for our collective intelligence doesn't he?

[$iljanus]

CNN

Justice Clarence Thomas intends to amend his financial disclosure forms to reflect a 2014 real estate deal he made with a GOP megadonor – an acknowledgment that the transaction should have been disclosed almost a decade ago, a source close to Thomas tells CNN.

The deal between Thomas and Harlan Crow, a Dallas real estate magnate and long-time friend of Thomas, involves the sale of three Georgia properties, including the home where Thomas’ mother, Leola Williams, 94, currently lives.

The source said Thomas has always filled out his forms with the help of aides, and that it was an oversight not to report the real estate transaction. Thomas believed he didn’t have to disclose because he lost money on the deal, according to the source.

Thomas really has general contempt for our collective intelligence doesn't he?

Oh but he's amending the forms so it's all good now. It's not like it's on the level of Biden family corruption which I'm sure will get all the scrutiny that the Republicans think it deserves!

[Zarathud]

Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Justice Thomas is a Supreme Court judge charged with interpreting the law. He had every legal resource necessary to get the right answer. If he’s this wrong on his reporting responsibilities, he’s not fit for the job. It’s his responsibility, and his excuses are terrible.

[malchior]

My favorite part is that he makes the Trump-y claim he didn't think it mattered because he "lost" money. He's a lifetime appointee to the highest court in the land and he knows this is preposterous. He is sneering at us. Fully corrupt and this is likely worse than Abe Fortas. The difference is that Thomas and the GOP have no ethical compass.

[stessier]

Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

Mr Fed has taught me this is true for blue collar crimes. For white collar crimes, there are usually intent requirements that make it much harder to get a conviction.

[Zarathud]

For white collar crimes, the standard is intent to do the act. Not knowing the law. For crimes like concealment, it’s the hiding and knowing you did the bad thing that shows the intent.

[malchior]

Our very functional government in action. The issue is the Republicans can filibuster committee assignment changes. The Senate is so incredibly broken.

[Smoove_B]

If only there was some really simple solution here that would stop the logjam.

[malchior]

If only there was some really simple solution here that would stop the logjam.

Can a person who isn't competent even resign? - Mitch McConnell (probably).

[Smoove_B]

That would be the icing on the cake - blocking her resignation somehow by declaring her unfit to resign.

[malchior]

I've since learned they can filibuster naming a new committee member whether she resigns or not. Whatever. Pure calvinball.

[El Guapo]

I've since learned they can filibuster naming a new committee member whether she resigns or not. Whatever. Pure calvinball.

So I take it that they can't filibuster naming committee members at the start of a congressional session?

The easy mildly competent step regardless would be to remove the filibuster on naming committee members, but I'm sure Democrats will probably just stop confirming judges instead.

[malchior]

I've since learned they can filibuster naming a new committee member whether she resigns or not. Whatever. Pure calvinball.

So I take it that they can't filibuster naming committee members at the start of a congressional session?

The easy mildly competent step regardless would be to remove the filibuster on naming committee members, but I'm sure Democrats will probably just stop confirming judges instead.

I don't know if that is specifically true but probably. Apparently committee assignments are part of the rules package for each session (or something along those lines). Changing out a member is a rule change subject to debate in the "world's greatest deliberative body". The fact remains that the Senate used to run on unanimous consent to do routine things but that regular order has broken down.

[Smoove_B]

It's nice to hear someone say they want to do something, but they can't. So I guess that's it.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the majority whip and Judiciary Committee chair, said the “20 years of gift travel on yachts and chartered planes was outrageous.” He added that the failure to disclose Crow’s real estate deals and reported purchase of Thomas’s mother’s home was “beyond anything I could imagine at the Supreme Court level.”

...

“Of course, I would like to, but I don’t think it’s going to happen,” he said, when asked if he'd like to hear from Thomas directly. “We’re going to discuss the agenda and the program.”

A Democratic aide noted that issuing a subpoena would require a majority vote by the committee, which the party doesn’t have with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., out indefinitely on medical leave. “So that option is out of the question,” the aide said.

[malchior]

McConnell's super power is that he can do stuff with a minority that the majority can't do with a majority.

[El Guapo]

Presumably they're trying to fix / resolve the Feinstein situation, right? Right???

[Smoove_B]

Nope. Apparently the Democrats are content to just let it ride. Plenty of time left under Biden to do things. No reason to rush.

Can't wait to see how they rule tomorrow on the mifepristone issue.

[malchior]

Presumably they're trying to fix / resolve the Feinstein situation, right? Right???

Schumer shambled out today and said he spoke to Feinstein a couple of days ago and they hope she'll be back to work soon. Presumably after she finishes all of her favorite apple sauce.

Edit: BTW found the clip - good on the reporter pointing out that Schumer does indeed have no plan. A safe assumption because he almost never does.

Another thing to consider is that this is *MOSTLY* Schumer's fault. Leadership didn't need to put Feinstein on the judiciary when she was falling apart before the shingles felled her.

[Kurth]

Stupid, stupid Democratic self-own.

Really pisses me off. Absolutely the last thing this country needs right now.

[Smoove_B]

After seeing everything else that has happened over the last decade+ from their failure to use political leverage they had to advance whatever you'd want to point to here, it's astounding to me that they're still not getting it. Astounding.

[LawBeefaroni]

After seeing everything else that has happened over the last decade+ from their failure to use political leverage they had to advance whatever you'd want to point to here, it's astounding to me that they're still not getting it. Astounding.

Their personal finances would beg to differ. They're getting it right...for themselves.

[malchior]

After seeing everything else that has happened over the last decade+ from their failure to use political leverage they had to advance whatever you'd want to point to here, it's astounding to me that they're still not getting it. Astounding.

Their personal finances would beg to differ. They're getting it right...for themselves.

Too true.

[Isgrimnur]

NBC News

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday allowed lawsuits brought by municipalities seeking to hold energy companies accountable for climate change to move forward in a loss for business interests.

The court turned away oil company appeals in five cases involving claims brought by cities and municipalities in Colorado, Maryland, California, Hawaii and Rhode Island as part of efforts to hold businesses accountable for the effects of climate change.

[Zaxxon]

[Kurth]

NBC News

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday allowed lawsuits brought by municipalities seeking to hold energy companies accountable for climate change to move forward in a loss for business interests.

The court turned away oil company appeals in five cases involving claims brought by cities and municipalities in Colorado, Maryland, California, Hawaii and Rhode Island as part of efforts to hold businesses accountable for the effects of climate change.

Justice Samuel Alito did not participate, likely because he owns stock in oil companies.

Shocking!!!!

[malchior]

Now Gorsuch and it's ugly.

For nearly two years beginning in 2015, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch sought a buyer for a 40-acre tract of property he co-owned in rural Granby, Colorado.

Nine days after he was confirmed by the Senate for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, the then-circuit court judge got one: The chief executive of Greenberg Traurig, one of the nation’s biggest law firms with a robust practice before the high court. Gorsuch owned the property with two other individuals.

On April 16 of 2017, Greenberg’s Brian Duffy put under contract the 3,000-square foot log home on the Colorado River and nestled in the mountains northwest of Denver, according to real estate records.


He and his wife closed on the house a month later, paying $1.825 million, according to a deed in the county’s record system. Gorsuch, who held a 20 percent stake, reported making between $250,001 and $500,000 from the sale on his federal disclosure forms.

Gorsuch did not disclose the identity of the purchaser. That box was left blank.

Since then, Greenberg Traurig has been involved in at least 22 cases before or presented to the court, according to a POLITICO review of the court’s docket.

They include cases in which Greenberg either filed amicus briefs or represented parties. In the 12 cases where Gorsuch’s opinion is recorded, he sided with Greenberg Traurig clients eight times and against them four times.

In addition, a Denver-based lawyer for Greenberg represented North Dakota in what became one of the more highly publicized rulings in recent years, a multistate suit which reversed former President Barack Obama’s plan to fight climate change through the Clean Air Act.

...

Supreme Court rules do not prevent justices from engaging in financial transactions with people with interest in court decisions, but Gorsuch’s dealings with Duffy expose the weakness of the court’s disclosure procedures. For instance, in reporting his Colorado income, Gorsuch listed as his source only the name that he and his two co-owners gave themselves, Walden Group, LLC. The report didn’t indicate that there had been a real estate sale or a purchaser.

Such a sale would raise ethical problems for officials serving in many other branches of government, but the Supreme Court sets its own rules. It has largely left justices to make their own decisions about when and how to report outside gifts and income.

[Smoove_B]

Who the f rubber-stamped a form with a real estate transaction that had a blank space for the purchaser? Or is this a situation where the clerk knows better than to question the almighty Justices on the forms they submit?

Either way, as someone that literally had to submit a 14 page form to the state regarding my entire household's personal finances to *volunteer* as a local official, this is enraging.

[stessier]

Who the f rubber-stamped a form with a real estate transaction that had a blank space for the purchaser? Or is this a situation where the clerk knows better than to question the almighty Justices on the forms they submit?

Either way, as someone that literally had to submit a 14 page form to the state regarding my entire household's personal finances to *volunteer* as a local official, this is enraging.

The blank space was on a federal disclosure form. Are those approved by anyone or just filed somewhere?

[Isgrimnur]

It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”

[Smoove_B]

If people are submitting forms and no one is checking them, then what in the actual f are we even doing anymore?

[stessier]

If people are submitting forms and no one is checking them, then what in the actual f are we even doing anymore?

I mean, someone can check but as the article notes, there is no enforcement mechanism for the Supreme Court.